Battery drain.

[andohel]

Just come across this site. Can you help me? My old battery went dead with me on Sunday. I used jump leads to start it. While driving with my lights on, the lights started to dim and engine trip out. By switching the lights out the engine started to turn over. I manged then to get home. I then changed my battery. After driving it yesterday morning, I went to start the car last night and guess what? The battery was too low to start the car again though the dash board lights were still on. This morning, when I went to have a look, there was nothing.....it was totally dead. This afternoon, I used jump leads to get it going, drove around for about 15 minutes, then minutes after stopping was unable to start the car again. Any suggestions for a worried man?

[foureyedbuzzard]

Bad alternator or voltage regulator or very bad(broken) connection somewhere. Make sure the alternator is turning. Does the car have a voltage gauge in the dash? Check it, it should read about 14 volts. If not, is the idiot light for the charging system on?
It sounds from your description as though the vehicle is not charging the battery, rather than having a drain when its off.
If everything works okay, lights, heater blower etc while the vehicle is running, and the battery is new, I would start by looking for a bad connection to the battery.

[andohel]

Originally Posted by foureyedbuzzard

Bad alternator or voltage regulator or very bad(broken) connection somewhere. Make sure the alternator is turning. Does the car have a voltage gauge in the dash? Check it, it should read about 14 volts. If not, is the idiot light for the charging system on?
It sounds from your description as though the vehicle is not charging the battery, rather than having a drain when its off.
If everything works okay, lights, heater blower etc while the vehicle is running, and the battery is new, I would start by looking for a bad connection to the battery.

Thanks. I have checked out the alternator and it appears to be okay. The new battery is now totally dead and I am charging it up. After charging I'm going to test it. On the point you made about the bad connection. Would the connection be bad as soon as I used the new battery or would it deteriorate over a short space of time during use?

[andohel]

If the battery is being drained while being driven, does this suggest alternator or battery faults?

[daveid]

id say alternator.

[PathFinder 007]

You said that this is a new battery, you didn't say who installed it or what the reason was for the new battery. Is it side or top terminal mount. Either case, the terminals as well as the actual cable/s itself could be bad. When I deal with a set of battery terminals, I make sure to remove any oxidization that occurs at the points of contact between the battery post and cable connection. Side mounts usually have a rubber boot over the cable lead which can (with some effort) be pealed back and then cleaned with a wire brush (either manually or on the end of a drill.) Battery acid can attack the metals in these connections and what was originally a minor connection grows to be no connection. Sometime the metal wire strands within the insulated cable ca be broken down with time to create a cable with high resistance built up in them. However, bad connections usually prevent starting or are evidenced by no juice at all. If the car is running and then dies, and you have a new battery, it's probably the voltage regulator (which in many cars is inside the alternator but in some, monted on the firewall or wheelwell) or the alternator assuming that the belt hasn't broken off. A cars alernator is used to supply the power required to run the vehicle and to recharge the battery. A car, after being started, should be able to run without a battery. An old trick was to test an alternator/ regulator versus the battery by starting the car and then removing the battery cable. If the car died, bad alternator or regulator. If it stayed running, bad battery. This not good for a car nowadays becase doing this could cause a voltage spike in the system and damage the electronic control unit. You can take the alternator out and have it tested at a parts store like Checker Auto or someone who has a tester. If the regulator is external, they are usually not that expensive to replace. Just some info to help. Hope it does. Good luck.

[AllGo'n'Show]

Yup go take your alternator in and have it checked, some places will do it for free, That sounds like your issue right there.